-anto, -into, -onto

The One Who Does

Level 5

The noun forms name the person who acts.

How It Works

Form	The person who	Example
-anto	is doing it	parolanto (a speaker)
-into	has done it	leginto (someone who has read)
-onto	will do it	alvenonto (someone who will arrive)

These words already name a person, so do not add -ul-: it is studanto, not studantulo. A participle noun normally names a person. For a thing, the ending -aĵ- is added.

For a time, the usual words end in -ec-: estonteco is the future, and pasinteco is the past. Some writers do say estonto for the time ahead, but by its form it names a person who will be.

Examples (5)

Priya estas studanto en nia kurso.
Priya is a student in our course.
Studanto is a person who is studying.
La parolantoj en la kongreso uzas nur Esperanton.
The speakers at the congress use only Esperanto.
Parolantoj are people who speak, and the plural has -j.
Multaj legintoj de la libro skribis al la aŭtoro.
Many people who have read the book wrote to the author.
Legintoj are people who have read it, and the plural has -j.
La alvenonto estas amiko de Ahmed.
The person who is about to arrive is a friend of Ahmed.
Alvenonto is a person who will arrive.
Ni parolas pri la estonteco de la kongreso.
We talk about the future of the congress.
Estonteco is the usual word for the time ahead.

Common Mistakes

Adding -ul- to a participle noun.
La studantulo havas libron.
La studanto havas libron.
Studanto already means a person who studies, so -ul- is not added.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-anto, -into, -ontoLevel 5The One Who Does

Learn This First

Participle nouns name the one who does the action.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Practice -anto, -into, -onto in Bubblegum

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